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Swann defiant despite ICC fine

Graeme Swann has apologised for his behaviour during England’s two-wicket defeat against Bangladesh at Chittagong on Friday, but still believes the ICC was wrong to fine him 10% of his match fee, as he described the decision to play a day/night match in such dew-heavy conditions as “ludicrous”.On a low and spin-friendly surface, Swann’s offbreaks were expected to be one of England’s key weapons as they set about defending a below-par total of 225. However, on a ground that was hosting its first day/night fixture, it soon became clear that the early-evening dew would be a significant factor, with the wet conditions leading to three ball-changes in the course of Bangladesh’s innings.”I was wrong to swear and lose my temper during England’s defeat against Bangladesh and I apologised straightaway to umpire Daryl Harper,” Swann wrote in his column in The Sun. “But I think it was ludicrous to play a day/night match in the World Cup that was so heavily influenced by the dew. The ball was so wet it was like trying to bowl with a bar of soap.”Swann’s frustration was apparent right from the start of his spell as he regularly stopped midway through his run-up, and at one stage he was heard swearing over the stump microphone as he served up a long-hop that was cut through point. “My frustration boiled over on Friday evening and I was trying to get the ball changed,” he said. “It was changed three times in total but it should have been changed every two or three overs. It felt like playing football with both hands tied behind my back.Graeme Swann became very animated with Daryl Harper over the damp ball•Getty Images

“To be caught swearing by the stump mic was very disappointing,” he added. “I don’t condone bad language on the field, especially if it is directed near the umpire. Of course, the dew wasn’t the umpires’ fault but every time the replacement rolled across the outfield, it became drenched. I was muttering things to myself under my breath that were far worse and I’m glad they weren’t picked up. Andrew Strauss told me to calm down, which was fair enough. I apologised to Daryl, saying, ‘Sorry, that was out of line’.”Despite admitting he was in the wrong for his outburst, Swann was adamant that the ICC’s sanction was unnecessary. “My punishment was to be docked 10 percent of my match fee but I shouldn’t be fined at all,” he said. “When you have venues where the dew is heavy, day/night cricket shouldn’t be played there. At some grounds, spin bowlers might as well not play if they have to bowl at night.”England’s failure to overcome Bangladesh has left their World Cup fate dangling by a thread. They need to beat West Indies in their final Group B fixture in Chennai on Thursday to stand any chance of going through to the quarter-finals, and even then they will need at least one of their three main rivals for fourth place – Bangladesh, West Indies and South Africa – to lose their remaining matches.”Following England in this World Cup is a bit like following Newcastle United – you never know what you’re going to get,” said Swann. One minute we’re beating South Africa, the next we’re losing to Ireland and Bangladesh. We have no chance unless we sort out our consistency, and although it has been a long, hard winter, we need to ask ourselves some questions if we can’t pull it out the bag for the World Cup.”

Haddin ruled out of IPL with finger injury

Brad Haddin, the Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders wicketkeeper, has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL with a fractured finger. He has been replaced by South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, who was part of the IPL commentary team this season and represented Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first three editions.”Boucher can open, he can play in the middle order, and he plays spin very well,” Venky Mysore, the CEO of the franchise, told ESPNcricinfo. Boucher last played for South Africa in a limited-overs game in June 2010, as AB de Villiers emerged as a preferred wicketkeeper-batsman.Haddin had picked up the injury during Australia’s recent one-day series in Bangladesh, and though he played one IPL game after that tour, an MRI on Thursday revealed that his finger hadn’t yet healed.Kolkata have used three different wicketkeepers in the tournament already, all of whom have opened the batting. Manvinder Bisla played five games as an opener, while Shreevats Goswami was drafted in for the game against Delhi Daredevils.Haddin came into the IPL in good form, having been Australia’s highest run-getter in the World Cup.

Prasanna ton puts Sri Lanka in control

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPrasanna Jayawardene struck his third Test hundred to put Sri Lanka on top•Getty Images

England will have expected to encounter problems removing a Jayawardene during this series, but that was likely to be Mahela not Prasanna. Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper, batting in the elevated position of No. 6, hit his third Test hundred to lift the visitors to an impressive 400 on the second day in Cardiff. Thilan Samaraweera and the lower order also played vital hands to ensure a frustrating time for England who lost Andrew Strauss in the final over of the day to finish on 47 for 1.Right from the beginning of this Test Sri Lanka have impressed with their mindset. They were flexible enough to adjust the balance of their side – and the choice of two spinners could yet prove a masterstroke – while Tillakaratne Dilshan opted to bat when many visiting captains may have hidden behind bowling first. Then the top order took on the responsibility of setting up a platform with a stubborn and committed display. To remove Strauss, who was well caught at second slip off Suranga Lakmal with five balls remaining, capped off a day that couldn’t have gone much better for them.Having opted for a five-man attack it put pressure on Prasanna to perform the role of a frontline batsman. A Test average of 30 showed he was capable but, as Matt Prior has occasionally found, there is a different onus on a wicketkeeper when they walk in at four down rather than five. Prasanna, though, handled his task with aplomb and, although he was dropped at slip on 89 by Strauss off Graeme Swann, it took nothing away from his achievement as he reached a hundred from 147 balls.What made it even more commendable was that England were in the middle of one of their best periods with the ball as James Anderson, who would later worryingly leave the field with a back strain but return as nightwatchman, found swing in the first session. Sri Lanka hadn’t added a run when Prasanna’s namesake, Mahela, edged a beauty to first slip which shaped back into him after a series of deliveries moved away. He tried to drop his hands but it was too late and the catch was superbly taken by Strauss diving behind second slip.It was tough work for the batsmen against Anderson and Chris Tremlett – the combination of swing and bounce – but all Sri Lanka’s batsmen knuckled down. When Tharanga Paranavitana’s 191-ball stay was ended by an inside edge into his stumps against Tremlett – shortly after being struck in a very painful area – it brought Prasanna to the middle at 159 for 4 and a tipping point of the innings. England will have believed they could break the back of Sri Lanka’s resistance but, not for the last time, came up against a stubborn obstacle in a fifth-wicket stand of 84 between Samaraweera and Prasanna.

Smart Stats

  • This was Sri Lanka’s fifth score of 400 or higher in Tests in England. Their highest is the 591 at The Oval in 1998.

  • The four fifty-plus scores in Sri Lanka’s first innings is level second on the list of most fifty-plus scores in single innings for Sri Lanka in Tests in England. The record is seven in the Lord’s Test in 2006.

  • The 93-run opening stand is Sri Lanka’s highest in Tests in England, surpassing the previous best of 59 between Russell Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara.

  • Thilan Samaraweera scored his first fifty in Tests in England. Overall though, his average in Tests outside Asia is under 33 and much lower than his career average of 54.30.

  • Prasanna Jayawardene scored his third Test century and his first outside the subcontinent. He now has 1284 runs at an average slightly over 32.

  • The 68-run stand between Prasanna and Thisara Perera is the fourth-highest for the seventh wicket for Sri Lanka in Tests against England and their second-highest in Tests in England.

  • Since the beginning of 2009, James Anderson has picked up 107 wickets at an average of 26.70 with five five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. Prior to that, he picked up 108 wickets at an average over 35.

Samaraweera took a hard blow on the arm from Tremlett and kept the slips and gully interested by playing away from his body, but also collected some confident boundaries. Whenever the England bowlers strayed onto his pads he was quick to pick them off although he wasn’t far off edging to third slip when the ball just eluded a diving Alastair Cook.Still, it was comfortably Samaraweera’s best effort on British soil having failed to reach double figures in his previous four Test innings. He went to fifty from 72 balls as the game drifted with England waiting for the new ball before he was squared up by Anderson and edged to second slip. Again, the hosts sensed an opening but it wasn’t to be.Prasanna had started his innings as a useful understudy for Samaraweera then became the senior partner. He twice gained boundaries to third man through the slip cordon but batsmen deserve some fortune when the ball moves around and he took advantage of Swann’s introduction to collect two leg-side fours. It was a perfectly paced innings and after tea he became more aggressive by back-cutting Stuart Broad and elegantly drove Swann through cover having been given his life at slip.Sri Lanka’s lower order also played a crucial role in keeping Prasanna company. Farveez Maharoof, who has been in good form for Lancashire, twice faced the DRS system in consecutive overs. The first was a waste after Broad seemingly convinced Strauss to use a review when Maharoof was clearly struck outside off stump. The second was more understandable when Anderson swung one back into Maharoof’s pads, but the batsman again survived as the on-field decision remained.Broad was the least convincing of England’s pace bowlers and Strauss was further hampered by Anderson’s injury. It meant Jonathan Trott was given a ball just 12 overs old, although a stroke of luck went England’s way when Trott deflected a straight drive into the non-striker’s stumps to remove Maharoof.Thisara Perera showed few nerves on his Test debut in a stand of 68 for the seventh wicket including a lofted straight drive against Tremlett. Broad broke through to claim his 100th Test scalp, having taken number 99 at Adelaide in December before injury struck, when Perera spooned another drive to mid-on.Rangana Herath then helped Prasanna add 51 for the eighth wicket before the last three wickets fell in three overs to give England a 90-minute session with the bat. They were within touching distance of surviving unscathed, but it was Sri Lanka who left the field with a spring in their step.

Sloppy Mumbai succumb in big upset

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSachin Tendulkar’s dismissal was the beginning of a spectacular collapse•Associated Press

After a glut of predictable snooze-fests, the IPL produced the kind of upset the Twenty20 format is made for, with Kings XI Punjab, placed tenth at the start of the game, producing a strong performance to trounce the table-toppers, Mumbai Indians. Punjab came out determined against Mumbai’s gun bowlers – Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh – and scrapped their way towards a solid base, before Munaf Patel’s five-for kept them to 163. In reply, Mumbai combusted in a rash of ridiculous shots to concede two points on a platter, keeping Punjab’s campaign alive.It was the kind of score Punjab would have taken at the toss, given how badly out of form their batting had been in recent games. It gave them the rare luxury of something to bowl at, and they responded with purpose and vigour. Aiden Blizzard produced three edgy boundaries in the first over from Praveen Kumar, but things went rapidly downhill from there for Mumbai’s batsmen. Sachin Tendulkar guided an innocuous delivery from Praveen straight to backward point in the third over, before Adam Gilchrist pulled off an alert stumping to send Rohit Sharma on his way. When Blizzard was adjudged out nicking a leg-side ball from Praveen in the fifth over, Mumbai had slumped to 27 for 3, and there was no middle-order counter-attack to put them back on track.Even a couple of dropped chances and a missed run-out did not spark a revival, and the exit of Andrew Symonds, Ambati Rayudu and T Suman in successive overs set up a happy evening for the Mohali faithfuls.Punjab’s defiance was captured earlier in the day, in the way Gilchrist fronted up to Lasith Malinga. The bowler of the tournament screamed in for the second over of Punjab’s innings, and delivered it full and wide of off stump. The out-of-form Gilchrist rolled back the years by moving across and slicing it through point. The next ball was hit even more fiercely, but it found the fielder. Buoyed by the confidence of having middled two balls, Gilchrist took guard outside the crease for the next delivery. It was a yorker, followed by a bouncer that clattered Gilchrist on the back of his helmet. He was stunned for a moment and floored for a minute, but he got a new helmet and carried on. Punjab were not going to flinch today.Paul Valthaty did his bit to kick-start the innings before perishing in Munaf’s first over, pulling him straight to deep midwicket. Gilchrist carried on though he was clearly not at his best, struggling to pick Harbhajan’s straighter ones, and to adapt to the drop in pace once Malinga exited the attack. Symonds let him off on one of those indiscretions, when Gilchrist drove Dhawal Kulkarni uppishly into the covers. Gilchrist celebrated by launching Rohit Sharma for a straight six, while Shaun Marsh checked in by creaming Kulkarni twice through the off side.Malinga returned and produced the breakthrough, hurling down another pacy bouncer which Gilchrist feathered behind. Marsh had found his range by then, and seamlessly took charge of the innings along with Dinesh Karthik. Blizzard made things easier for Punjab, dropping Karthik when he top-edged Kieron Pollard. Karthik capitalised by sweeping and reverse-sweeping Suman for successive fours in the 14th over, as Punjab coiled for the final assault. It was the cue for the Munaf show to begin.Marsh welcomed Munaf to the crease by crashing the first ball of his second spell through the covers, before imparting a violent thump to another half-tracker, to send it sailing along towards the deep midwicket fence. Pollard had his own ideas, though, running at full tilt, diving to his right and intercepting the ball with both hands, to pull off one of the best catches of the tournament. That sparked Mumbai’s best phase in the game, as Munaf used clever changes in length and pace to cut through the lower order. He dismissed David Hussey for a duck, before foxing Karthik and Ryan Harris into scooping catches into the outfield. Munaf’s efforts had restricted Punjab to just 39 off the last five overs, but Mumbai’s spectacular batting collapse meant it counted for nothing.

'Have to adapt to facing short balls' – Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said that the young batsmen are learning to adapt to the different conditions and trying to improve their art of dealing with short deliveries and extra bounce. India won the first Test but not without some batting hiccups. M Vijay didn’t do well and in the middle order, the likes of Virat Kohli were tested by the bouncers.”A lot has been spoken about the short stuff and everything,” Dhoni said. “But if you want to do well at the international level, you have to consistently face it. And you have to adapt yourself to the conditions. You might not be the best player of fast bowling or short-pitched deliveries but you have to negotiate it. If you are not getting out to the short delivery then it is fair enough. It doesn’t really matter whether you look elegant or not. It’s all about scoring runs.”That’s where I think that if you are enjoying your cricket then it helps you to perform better and you get into positions where you can negotiate the bounce well. That is one area where the youngsters are trying to improve. I think because when the other countries when they come to India, they see turn and bounce for the spinners and most of them struggle.”Vijay, who was suffering from a finger injury sustained during the pre-match training session in the nets, fell cheaply in both innings. Abhinav Mukund, the debutant opener, was better, and looked good in the second innings, but he failed to convert starts of 11 and 25. Asked a direct question about the performance of Vijay, Dhoni chose instead to answer it in a holistic way.”I think it’s important to have a pool of openers,” he said. “Because opening is one slot that you know, you may be a very good opener but at international level till you are tested, it’s very difficult to say by playing domestic cricket you can really adapt to the Test conditions. You have different kinds of bowlers and it is very different. So it’s very important to have a pool of openers and they should be given games.MS Dhoni wants his batsmen to keep working at how they handle short balls•AFP

“I feel this is one area where the India A tours are very important because the youngsters who get exposure to international conditions and the upcoming players of different teams who might play for their respective countries. It’s important to have them. Abhinav Mukund also looked positive in this game, which means we have quite a pool of openers where we can give them a fair amount of matches whenever we have chance and look to groom them, so that in the future, we can have a settled pair of openers. Now we have, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir doing a great job for us.”Those two were the slightly tougher questions about the possible problems that ail India. The rest of the conference revolved around the Test victory. Dhoni was happy that though India were without several important players for this series the team took responsibility and performed.”We missed quite a few key players in this Test match, which meant somebody had to take the responsibility and I’m glad the team took up the responsibility for the way we performed. At one stage, we were 85 for 6 in the first innings but you know again the lower order contribution was there. Suresh Raina batted really well with Harbhajan Singh and the rest of the tail contributed.”I think we have done really well over the last two years or so with the lower-order contribution and the same time, part-timers getting wickets when it’s needed. I think this was a perfect example. We thought maybe we’ll end up getting 150 or 200-odd runs but we ended up getting some more runs because of which we were able to get few more runs as lead and we ended up getting over 250 runs.”In the second innings, Rahul Dravid guided India out of trouble and helped set up a target of 326. “Rahul as you know is an exceptional batsman. Very patient. He got 100 in 250 balls, which means you have to be very patient and push the bowlers to bowl in your areas and to your strengths. And I think that’s what he did. He was patient for a long time and waited for the bowlers to bowl in his areas. That has been the pick of his innings. Not only in this one, but whatever innings he plays you know he just waits for the bowlers to pitch it in his areas. I think he was brilliant as usual.”Dhoni also had words of praise for Praveen Kumar, who picked six wickets in the match, and was the pick of the Indian bowlers. “Praveen as we all know is a skilful bowler,” Dhoni said. “He can swing the ball both ways and he is not someone who is up with the pace, he doesn’t bowl 140-plus but he can definitely swing the ball and put the ball in the right areas, which means that he can confuse the batsmen as to play it or to leave it … It was not a wicket which was swinging a lot or seaming lot. Of course you know Praveen can swing the ball in any sort of conditions. He was brilliant. He bowled in the right areas. And that was the main reason why he got wickets in both the innings.”

Leicestershire close in at the top

ScorecardLeicestershire tightened their grip on second place in the Friends Life t20North Group by beating closest challengers Worcestershire by six wickets at NewRoad.The Royals did well to reach 130 for 7 after their top batsmen misfired,but it was not enough to stretch the Foxes as Andrew McDonald topped 50 for thefifth time in the competition this season.McDonald shrugged off the loss of two partners in the openingpowerplay and lifted the tempo with Will Jefferson (16) in a stand of 45.McDonald was particularly hard on young paceman Aneesh Kapil, the 17-year-oldconceding 16 runs in his only over, and the game was running away fromWorcestershire before their international spinners could make an impact.Jefferson was caught behind off Saeed Ajmal and McDonald drilled Shakib AlHasan to cover after hitting five fours and a six in his 53, but James Taylor,unbeaten with 22, and Abdul Razzaq (16 not out) saw Leicestershire home with 15balls to spare.Worcestershire lost their top five batsmen for 42 – four of the wickets sharedby new-ball pair Harry Gurney and Matthew Hoggard – and only nudged past 100thanks to Gareth Andrew’s third unbeaten fifty in Twenty20 matches this year.Although restricted to five boundaries, Andrew again used his long-handled,short-bladed bat to good effect in making 54 from 42 balls, mostly in aseventh-wicket stand of 60 in nine overs with Ben Scott.Scott was run out for 22 in the final over, a sacrifice that put Andrew back onstrike to complete his 50.The manner of Worcestershire’s early collapse was a surprise to those whoexpected a used pitch to be low and slow.Instead there was pace and unreliable bounce as Hoggard and Gurney roughed upWorcestershire’s strokemakers.Vikram Solanki edged a near-unplayable lifter from Gurney and Hoggard, afterbeing shovelled over fine leg for six by Alexei Kervezee, claimed the wickets ofMoeen Ali, caught at mid-on, and Shakib, cutting to backward point.In between those dismissals Gurney removed Kervezee with a well-judged catch byClaude Henderson at fine leg, while Josh Cobb ran out James Cameron from mid-offafter a mix-up with Shakib.

Bopara recalled for injured Trott

Essex’s Ravi Bopara has been recalled to England’s squad for the third Test against India at Edgbaston, starting on Wednesday, after Jonathan Trott failed to recover full fitness after landing heavily on his shoulder while fielding during last week’s Trent Bridge Test.Bopara, who played the last of his ten Tests against Australia in August 2009, was reportedly unlucky to miss out on selection against Sri Lanka earlier this season, after Eoin Morgan’s 192 for the England Lions tipped the balance in his favour. He has been given his opportunity this time around, however, despite a strong challenge from the uncapped Leicestershire batsman, James Taylor, who made 98 for the Lions against Sri Lanka A at Scarborough on Friday.”We have seen some very pleasing performances during the first two npower Test matches,” said the national selector, Geoff Miller. “But there is still plenty more to do in this series and the squad and management will be determined to carry the momentum from recent weeks through to the remaining two Tests and push for a comprehensive series victory.Also included in the 13-man squad is the Middlesex seamer, Steven Finn, who came in as cover on the eve of the Trent Bridge Test after Chris Tremlett succumbed to a back spasm. Though Tremlett is also retained in the squad, his replacement, Tim Bresnan, performed superbly in his absence, making a free-flowing 90 in England’s second innings, and sealing the 319-run victory with career-best figures of 5 for 48.”Ravi Bopara comes in for Jonathan Trott who is continuing his rehabilitation from his shoulder injury,” confirmed Miller. “Chris Tremlett is recovering well from the back spasms that ruled him out of the second Test and although we are expecting him to be fully fit ahead of Wednesday we felt it was prudent to include an extra seam bowler at this stage meaning Steven Finn comes into the squad.”Bopara made just 25 and 19 in the England Lions game this week, but confirmed his current form with an impressive 178 for Essex against Leicestershire last week. If England persist with six batsmen, he is likely to slot into the middle order, while Ian Bell is Trott’s probable replacement at No. 3 following his superb 159 in the second innings at Trent Bridge. Bopara had a mixed time at No. 3 in his last spell in the Test side. He made 143 against West Indies at Chester-le-Street, but then managed just 105 runs in seven innings in the Ashes.England are currently riding high in the series, leading 2-0 with two Tests to come, and one more victory will guarantee they succeed India as the No. 1 team in Test cricket.Squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn.

Nottinghamshire release Akhil Patel

Akhil Patel has been released by Nottinghamshire following confirmation that the left-handed opener will not be offered a new deal at Trent Bridge. Patel, the younger brother of England international Samit, has struggled to move out of Nottinghamshire’s second XI since signing a two-year contract in 2009.”Akhil has made some good scores in our second eleven and league cricket but he hasn’t scored the volume of runs in the championship that would warrant extending his contract with us,” explained Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell. Patel made just three Championship appearances in 2011, managing a high score of 24.A mirror image of his brother with the bat, Patel scored plenty of runs at junior levels and, along with Derbyshire colleague Tom Poynton, was part of the ECB Under-17 squad for the midlands in July 2007. He had re-joined Nottinghamshire in 2009, having left the club’s academy to join Derbyshire where he made his first-class debut in 2007.

Tamim, Nasir Hossain shine in truncated game

ScorecardIn another rain-affected match in the Bangladesh Cricket Board Cup, Bangladesh bowled out Bangladesh A cheaply before Tamim Iqbal helped them ease past a revised target. Bangladesh A were bowled out for 167 in 46.3 overs before rain intervened. Bangladesh were given a D/L target of 100 runs from 20 overs and got there with five overs to spare.Seamer Nazmul Hossain outshone Bangladesh’s pace spearhead Shafiul Islam, giving his side two early breakthroughs. Then the spinners took over: Abdur Razzak, who has been named captain of Bangladesh for this tournament, took 3 for 25, and 19-year-old Nasir Hossain bagged four wickets for just 29 runs in his ten overs. Nasir impressed on international debut during the ODIs against Zimbabwe, scoring a half-century, and now showed what he is capable of with his offspin.There were not too many contributions from the Bangladesh A batsmen, with only Saghir Hossain and Mahmudullah getting past 30.Tamim made light work of the total, smashing 10 fours and a six in his unbeaten 66 off 51 balls. He lost the vice-captaincy after the Zimbabwe tour and has responded with consecutive half-centuries in this tournament.Both teams had already qualified for the final of the tournament, which will be played on September 21.

Rest of India win Irani Cup outright

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShikhar Dhawan with his Player-of-the-Match awards•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rest of India completed a 404-run win against Rajasthan on the fifth day of the Irani Cup in Jaipur. Rajasthan began the day with all their wickets intact but Rest of India, who had already won the trophy on the first-innings lead, got rid of the hosts’ top order in the morning session to set up the outright win.Rajasthan’s openers had a nervy start. In the second over of the day, Aakash Chopra edged Vinay Kumar but the ball fell short of slip. Vineet Saxena edged Varun Aaron for four soon after. The close calls sent the pair into defensive mode and they played out five maidens. Just when Rajasthan seemed to have safely negotiated the early burst from Rest of India – Saxena guided Umesh Yadav past point, while Chopra drove Aaron through covers – Pragyan Ojha struck. He got Chopra to drive at a flighted delivery and took the edge.Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, did not last long, edging a bouncy Yadav delivery that was angled into him to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. Rest of India struck twice in quick succession again before lunch, with Vinay bowling Saxena and Ojha trapping Robin Bist lbw, to take control of the game.For a while, Rashmi Parida and Ashok Menaria looked like they would hold off Rest of India like they did in the first-innings. But the resistance was cut short when Menaria lost his composure and went after a short, wide ball from Yadav, only to offer Parthiv another catch. Rest of India continued to knock off the wickets in pairs, as Rahul Sharma – who did not have the best day, spraying the ball around a bit – had Rohit Jalani lbw for a duck. Sharma picked up a couple of wickets after that, though, as Parida holed out and Deepak Chahar had his off stump uprooted.Madhur Khatri produced the only innings of note for Rajasthan, a boundary-studded 53. Khatri cut and pulled, and managed a few drives down the ground and through the covers, before edging to Abhinav Mukund at third slip. Ojha wrapped up the match two overs later, as Sunil Mathur charged down the track, missed and was stumped. It was Ohja’s fourth wicket, to go with his first-innings five-for. Rest of India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who struck two blistering centuries in the match, was named Player of the Match.

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