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The continuing impasse between the BCCI and the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has left the players confused and distressed

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Sep-2014The continuing impasse between the BCCI and the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has left the players confused and distressed. The players feel both sides, which are charged with protecting their interests, have let them down. They feel they are caught between the vague offers of the BCCI and the silence of RCA president Lalit Modi.”The RCA is trying to challenge the BCCI ban. But neither the RCA nor the BCCI are coming up with any options for the players,” a senior Rajasthan player told ESPNcricinfo. He said in the current situation players should be told they will get some sort of help, and in case things are not sorted out the players should still be shown some direction rather than being forced to sit at home. He pointed out that most of the year players “are waiting” to play the domestic season and then, suddenly, they are now faced a situation where “we can’t do anything”.On Sunday players got a call from the RCA, asking them to report to the preparatory camp starting at the academy grounds inside the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur from Tuesday. That was not really news to the players since, during the pre-season fitness camp in July, they had been told training sessions would commence on August 20. But it was the timing of the call that surprised the players, and confused them too, seeing as just last week the BCCI had omitted Rajasthan from Ranji Trophy, women’s tournaments and all age-group cricket – Under-16, Under-19, Under-23. Following that, the RCA did not feature in the central zone meeting organised to finalise venues for zonal age-group tournaments.Mehmood Abdi, a senior member of the RCA executive board, called the BCCI move a PR exercise. According to him the RCA was sticking to its activity calendar. Accordingly, the camp for the senior team started today and will go on till September 8. The Challenger Trophy for Under-19s will be held between September 4 and 6 in Jaipur, from which the ODI colts team will be picked.Despite Abdi’s words, the sidelining of the RCA has not been lost on the players, who questioned the usefulness of the camp. The senior player, who was spending time with his family, said he and his team-mates had no other alternative but to attend the camp. “What else can we do?” he pointed out, adding if he did not it could harm his chances.Through all this Modi, expelled by the BCCI but elected as RCA president in May, has made himself scarce. The Rajasthan players want Modi to address them directly. According to the senior player, there has been no proper communication till date “explaining the situation to us”. He felt “the simplest thing” that can be done is to speak to the players.Even the assurances of BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, who had said that if a Rajasthan player wanted to turn professional (meaning, sign up with another domestic team) he would keep that option open to them till the very last minute before the season starts in October, has not offered much comfort. According to a few Rajasthan players it was not such a straightforward decision to turn professional and turn up for another state.For some, shifting teams is not the preferred option; one of the players pointed out that he could have turned professional a few years ago but representing Rajasthan remained his priority. The player said: “Nothing is clear about till when the ban on RCA will last. In such a scenario, to decide whether to play as professional is not so easy. To run away is not the answer.”Another reason the players do not want to risk moving out is, “what if by next month the problem is sorted out”? There is no clear-cut answer. The players say they are “in a dilemma”. They “definitely” want to play for Rajasthan, that remains their “first” preference. But more than anything “we want to play cricket”, a player explained.After Modi assumed the RCA presidency, he immediately declared no amount of coercion from the BCCI would defeat him. He assured the elected members as well as players that the issues that developed under his predecessor, CP Joshi, would be turned around.While addressing the executive committee in the last week of August, Modi, speaking from London via video conferencing, assured the various district units and the RCA administration that he would handle the situation and asked them to stay put. Exactly what – if any sort – of truce he is willing to sign or concessions he is open to, no one was aware of. But his combative attitude has only added to the confusion.Despite having suspended the RCA the BCCI had said that it would not neglect the players and would keep the slot for Rajasthan open in case the Brijesh Patel-led committee could resolve the deadlock between BCCI, RCA and the Rajasthan government.In early August three members of the ad-hoc committee, appointed by the BCCI to oversee disputed states, met Rajeev Maharshi (chief secretary) and JC Mohanty (principal secretary, sports) of the Rajasthan government, to seek some clarifications and assurances as well as highlight the issues between the BCCI and the RCA. It is understood that the committee explained the BCCI’s plan to remedy the situation to the government officials.Modi had utilised the Rajasthan Sports Act, which governs the constitution of the RCA, to come back to power in spite of his BCCI ban. Hence the committee was obliged to keep the state government in the loop. Even if the BCCI believes the issue is between the board and the RCA, it wanted to make sure it would not be faced with any future legal implications if it were to go ahead and select players for various teams itself, under the Rajasthan banner.Apparently, the Rajasthan Sports Act prohibits the use of word Rajasthan without permission. It also states that the only a body affiliated and registered with the registrar can manage and govern the game, which in this case is RCA.Despite that meeting, though, things have not moved forward on the legal front for the BCCI. “Currently things are just languishing. The sub-committee has not got any directions from the board’s legal cell yet,” a BCCI official said.The official said he was confident about the players’ future being secure. “I am sure the teams will play ultimately. Whatever happens, the players will not lose out. I can understand their anxiety, that the season is approaching and there is lack of clarity. But in the end I do not think there is no Rajasthan. Because it is bad for everyone: BCCI, RCA, Rajasthan government, for everybody involved. Nobody wants that to happen.”These may well remain empty words to the players, though, till both the BCCI and the RCA personally speak to them.

Michael Lumb top-scored with 99 as Nottinghamshire fought back strongly on the second day against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

Press Association16-Aug-2014
ScorecardMichael Lumb’s return to form in white ball cricket rubbed off in the four-day game•Getty ImagesMichael Lumb top-scored with 99 as Nottinghamshire fought back strongly on the second day against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.The visitors reached 384 for 8 at stumps, a first-innings lead of 124 with Lumb taking part in two of the three century partnerships posted during the day.Lumb faced 192 balls and hit 13 fours before edging Kyle Coetzer to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington, the 10th instance of a Nottinghamshire player to fall in the nineties this season. He shared in a stand of 133 with Riki Wessels, who made 71, and 106 with Chris Read before he fell for 59.After tea Ajmal Shahzad, with 65 not out ,and Luke Fletcher also profited against a tiring attack, putting on 114 for the eighth wicket as Notts enhanced their Championship credentials with a display of great character.Resuming from their overnight position of 38 for 4, still 222 behind, Notts produced the perfect response as Lumb and Wessels blunted the home attack during the morning session. The pair combined to create the county’s highest fifth-wicket stand of the season, with the only scare coming from the first ball of the day as Wessels nicked Mohammad Azharullah high over the slip cordon for four.It was Azharullah who eventually broke the stand, bowling Wessels just before lunch with a delivery that nipped back to clip the top of his off stump. The former Northants player had scored an impressive 158 not out when the sides met at Trent Bridge earlier in the season and seemed on course for another ton as he stroked his way to an elegant 50 from 78 balls, with 10 fours, before being snared by Azharullah.Lumb endured a difficult first half of the season, reaching fifty only once in the Championship as he battled against a niggling arm injury. Full fitness and white ball cricket brought about a return to form, culminating in his 81 at Lord’s on the eve of this match.Read, meanwhile, paced his innings beautifully, accelerating nicely to reach his fifth Championship half-century of the season in 114 deliveries, with five fours and a huge six over widish long-on from the bowling of James Middlebrook.Notts had gained a narrow lead by the time Read had succumbed to a successful lbw appeal by Andrew Hall but Shahzad and Fletcher were not about to let a position of strength go to waste. Both registered their highest scores of the campaign, with Fletcher falling just before the close one run short of his fifty.The 25-year old was involved in some innocent by-play with Neil Wagner, the New Zealand international on debut for Northants. After sending a bouncer past the batsman’s ears Wagner went down and had a word with the 6ft 6in Fletcher whose response was a smile, followed by three consecutive boundaries to leave the bowler nursing figures of 0 for 101, following his first-day duck. Shahzad closed on 65 not out and with Andre Adams for company will look to strengthen Nottinghamshire’s position on the third morning.”I’d definitely have taken 99 at the start of the day, after the season I’ve had and especially in the position that we were in,” Lumb said. “I was pretty devastated to get out then though. It was a tricky situation at the start so when you work that hard it was a little disappointing not to get to a hundred.”Riki, Ready, Ajmal and Fletch all showed good fighting spirit and it’s set the game up nicely for us now.”Northants head coach David Ripley also praised the Notts batsmen for keeping their cool: “I thought we came out of the blocks well and put the ball in good areas. We were just looking for that edge. There was a little bit of playing and missing but quality batsmen aren’t going to be phased by that. They kept their patience, got in and then it became difficult for us.”

Thursday night’s washout at Chinnaswamy Stadium has made the race for the remaining semi-final spot from Group A tighter. Both Chennai Super Kings and Perth Scorchers will need a win on Saturday night at the same ground

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit26-Sep-2014Match facts Saturday, September 27, 2014
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)After losing 7 for 55 to the spin of Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav, Perth Scorchers will have to reevaluate their approach.•BCCIBig pictureThursday night’s washout at Chinnaswamy Stadium has made the race for the remaining semi-final spot from Group A tighter. Both Chennai Super Kings and Perth Scorchers will need a win on Saturday night at the same ground. Super Kings more so as it is their final group game while Scorchers have another one left against Lahore Lions. Rain is around in Bangalore again, though, and more of it is expected on Saturday evening.After losing 7 for 55 to the spin of Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav in Hyderabad, Scorchers will be relieved to face Super Kings’ slow bowlers on the smaller outfield in Bangalore, which will provide them more cushion on mishits. Also, while R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are fine spinners, they do not carry the same mystery about them as the Kolkata Knight Riders duo does. All seven Scorchers batsmen to fall in Hyderabad went slogging and swiping at the spinners, and will have to reevaluate that approach against Super Kings.Scorchers did well with the ball to have Knight Riders on 125 for 6 but it was two successive late sixes again that settled the game. While it was Mitchell Marsh’s blows that had won it for Scorchers against Dolphins, it was Suryakumar Yadav’s strikes that did it for Knight Riders. Scorchers captain Adam Voges said he was proud of his young side for taking it so close against a powerful IPL team, but just close will not do it against another Indian franchise.Form guide Chennai Super Kings WLLWW (most recent first, completed matches only)
Perth Scorchers LWWWLWatch out for Adam Voges’ unbeaten 71 against Knight Riders was his first fifty in 32 T20 innings. The Scorchers captain went back in the crease to use the pull effectively off the spinners, and when he skipped out to them, he tried to push straight. His approach complemented his opening partner Craig Simmons’ power-hitting, and Scorchers will want their leader to fire again.Suresh Raina hammered 90 off 43 in Super Kings’ previous match against Dolphins. Raina cracked as many as eight sixes during that innings, taking his tally in T20s to 198. No Indian batsman has hit 200 in the format. Raina went past 5000 T20 runs – the first Indian to do so – during that 90 and it would be fitting in a way if he brings up the sixes landmark with one of his trademark swipes over midwicket.Stats and trivia MS Dhoni is 23 short of 4000 T20 runs. In his previous game, Raina became the leading run-scorer in the CLT20, overtaking Kieron Pollard Brad Hogg needs three more to reach 100 T20 wicketsQuotes”We are on a journey with a very young group at the moment. I just see them getting better and better all the time.”

After a 162-run loss to Bangladesh in the second Test in Khulna that pushed Zimbabwe to the bottom of the Test rankings, captain Brendan Taylor said the collapse on the last day was a hard one to swallow

Devashish Fuloria in Khulna07-Nov-2014While the Bangladesh team set off on a victory lap around the ground after the presentation ceremony, following their 162-run victory, a forlorn Brendan Taylor made his way towards the media centre on the other side of the ground. He was all alone as he crossed the pitch, looking down while the stands generated noise for their stars. On the same pitch, Hamilton Masakadza had played comfortably to score more than 200 runs in the match. On the same pitch, Zimbabwe had lost their last five wickets for 14 runs to go 0-2 down in the series, and drop to the bottom of the Test rankings.”We fought hard for four-and-half days and it’s a tough pill to swallow that we got blown away in the last hour or two,” Taylor said.Taylor said that while Zimbabwe were not going to attempt to chase down 314, they had a real chance of drawing the Test. Bangladesh, leading by 266 runs at the start of the fifth day, batted for 79 minutes before the declaration. That left Zimbabwe with 68 overs to survive, which, even after the delayed declaration was a difficult ask.”On a wearing wicket, against quality spinners there was no chance we were going to go for it,” Taylor said. “We thought if we could just break it down into small periods, bat time out, build partnerships, we could get over the line with a draw. But losing wickets in a group put us on the back foot.”I thought maybe Bangladesh should have declared earlier but on a wearing wicket on day five, you can never be too sure. We were quite happy, we wanted Bangladesh to bat longer. But it proved to be a very good declaration and there was more than enough time to win the game.”Zimbabwe were jolted early in their second innings as they lost their openers in the eight overs they had to bat before lunch. They suffered another blow early in the second session when Taylor was caught bat-pad at backward short-leg, a near repeat of his first-innings dismissal. Masakadza and Regis Chakabva led another fightback with a 70-run stand but Chakabva was dismissed a few overs before tea.There wasn’t much resistance after tea as Zimbabwe lost their last five wickets within 45 minutes. “There were times when we lost wickets in a group. We lost wickets before tea intervals, after drinks, before lunch, they are crucial periods,” Taylor said. “So it’s always tough to rebuild from that. But Hamilton Masakadza proved it wasn’t all unplayable. He was fantastic throughout this Test. So there is a lot we can take from him.”Taylor also praised Chakabva, who scored his maiden Test century and starred in two important partnerships with Masakadza: “He is a very gritty, determined player and you need more of them in your team. He got his first hundred and I am sure there will be many more to come.”Zimbabwe had chosen a new-look spin attack after the loss in Dhaka where their spinners had been ineffective. The pair of legspinner Natsai M’Shangwe and Malcolm Waller appeared to be ineffective in the first innings, but both were among wickets in the second innings, which Taylor said was a good sign.”As the wicket became a little difficult, our legspinner found his rhythm,” he said. “Malcolm Waller is a part-time bowler but he can be very proud of the way he bowled, picking up six wickets in the match. Our spinners are certainly not in their league. Our seam bowlers are the ones we look to strike, the wicket doesn’t allow us to strike, but we built pressure. We contained Bangladesh for long periods of time in the first innings.”Despite their second-innings collapses in Mirpur and Khulna, Zimbabwe have been plucky in the series. They came close to a win in the first Test and would have sensed a draw at times in the second. Taylor remained hopeful of a win in the future.”We want to win. We feel we can win,” he said. “We have to go back and study where we can improve. There will be some of us due for a big performance.”We need to be smarter and mentally stronger to bounce back from here. We are showing glimpses; the first Test was done in three days, this one late on the fifth day, so if we can iron out the few flaws, I am sure the third Test can be a lot closer.”

Peter Handscomb reached his second century of the Sheffield Shield season late on the third day in Adelaide, where Victoria built a strong first-innings lead on a good batting surface

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2014
ScorecardPeter Handscomb has enjoyed his start to the Sheffield Shield season (file photo)•Getty ImagesPeter Handscomb reached his second century of the Sheffield Shield season late on the third day in Adelaide, where Victoria built a strong first-innings lead on a good batting surface. Victoria started the morning at 1 for 201 and by stumps they were 5 for 521, with Handscomb on 100 and Daniel Christian on 64, and their advantage over South Australia was 90 runs.Handscomb brought up his hundred in the final over of the day off Gary Putland and it continued a strong start to the summer for him – his Shield scores this season have been 108 not out, 96, 10 and now 100 not out. Christian will begin the fourth day hoping to become the third centurion in Victoria’s innings, after opener Chris Rogers began with 107.Rogers added only three to his overnight score before he was caught off the bowling of Joe Mennie, but his century should have erased any doubts over his place in the Test side ahead of the series against India. Mennie followed in his next over by having Cameron White caught and bowled for 8, but South Australia managed only two more wickets for the rest of the day.By stumps, six Victorians had scored made half-centuries or better, and Marcus Stoinis (90) and David Hussey (81) both missed out on the chance to turn theirs into hundreds. Stoinis fell to Putland and Hussey was caught behind off Mennie, who finished with 3 for 62, but at the close of play the Handscomb-Christian partnership was worth 139 and much work remained for the Redbacks.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 Group C matches played on December 30, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2014
ScorecardThe Himachal Pradesh spinners took seven wickets to earn their side a 331-run first-innings lead in Guwahati. Opener Pallavkumar Das (52) was the only one to make more than 35 as Assam were bowled out for 218 in the 101st over. There were thirties from Sibsankar Roy, Gokul Sharma and Tarjinder Singh, but the latter was left stranded on 35 as the middle and lower orders crumbled. Assam were 112 for 1 at one stage with Das and Roy in the middle before Rishi Dhawan bowled the former to spark the collapse. Roy fell in the next over to left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma. Legspinner Karanveer Singh finished with three wickets, while Bipul and offspinner Ankush Bedi took two each.
ScorecardFifties from Raiphi Gomez and KS Monish helped Kerala recover enough from a precarious position to gain the lead against Jharkhand in Dhanbad. Kerala started on 179 for 5, with Jharkhand’s 337 seemingly far away. Rohan Prem resumed on 35 but fell to Shahbaz Nadeem soon after reaching his fifty. Raiphi Gomez (76) and Monish (75 not out) then added 77 for the seventh wicket but Kerala were 30 behind when the former departed. V Manoharan and P Anthaf also fell cheaply and when last man Basil Thampi joined Monish, Kerala need another ten to take the lead. Thampi went on to make 24 and helped Monish add 55 before he became Nadeem’s fourth wicket. Jharkhand lost Ishan Kishan in the 23 overs they batted.
ScorecardTripura’s lower order scrapped to give them a slender first-innings lead over Goa in Agartala. Tripura began on 139 for 5, trailing Goa by 112. They lost their captain Abhijit Dey (49) before reaching 200. But seamer Manisankar Murasingh made a vital 63 at No. 8. He faced 100 deliveries and hit seven fours and a six. Still, Tripura had slipped to 235 for 9 before the last pair of Rana Dutta (18 not out) and Viki Saha (10) guided them past Goa. The visitors then slipped to 79 for 5 in their second innings before Rahul Keni and Deepraj Gaonkar steadied the innings with an unbeaten 44-run stand.
ScorecardHosts Hyderabad lost their last seven wickets for 117 but they still did enough to take a 32-run first-innings lead against Services. Hanuma Vihari fell after adding just five to his overnight 114 and the rest of the batsmen kept getting out after starts. B Anirudh and Ibrahim Khaleel made thirties but Hyderabad were down to 284 for 8 when Khaleel fell, trailing Services by 22. Akash Bhandari (36 not out) and Mehdi Hasan (26) sealed the lead with a 53-run partnership. Hyderabad were dismissed for 338 in 132 overs, with Saurabh Kumar taking four wickets and Roshan Raj and Abhishek Sakuja chipping in with three each. Bhandari then struck twice as Services slipped to 96 for 4 in their second innings.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group A matches played on December 28, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2014
ScorecardShreyas Iyer celebrates his maiden first-class hundred•PTI Shreyas Iyer’s maiden first-class ton powered Mumbai to a commanding 306 for 4 on the first day of their Ranji Trophy clash against Bengal in Kolkata. After being inserted, Mumbai lost their openers Aditya Tare (24) and Akhil Herwadkar (25) for twenties, but Shreyas and Abhishek Nayar counterattacked with a mammoth 176-run stand for the third wicket. Nayar contributed 65 during that partnership, with eight fours, but was trapped lbw in the 73rd over. Shreyas carried on, stroking a total of 16 fours and four sixes, to make 153 – his fourth 50-plus score for Mumbai from his last seven innings across formats. However, he was dismissed by Ashok Dinda towards the end of the day, leaving Suryakumar Yadav and Siddhesh Lad at the crease going into day two. Seventeen-year-old Sarfaraz Khan made his first-class debut in the match.
ScorecardOnly 49 overs of play was possible in Chennai, with wickets at regular intervals hampering Tamil Nadu’s progress against Railways. The hosts, opting to bat, lost Bharat Shankar early, but their other opener, Abhinav Mukund, muscled his way to a much-needed half-century, scoring 57. Abhinav and B Indrajith shared a fourth-wicket stand which yielded 70 runs, but just when it seemed like Tamil Nadu were about to pull away, Abhinav was caught behind by Mahesh Rawat off Ashish Yadav in the final over of the day. Yadav and Arnab Nandi picked up two wickets apiece. Tamil Nadu were 144 for 4 when stumps were called.
ScorecardFifties from Saurabh Wakaskar and Deepak Hooda powered Baroda to a promising 291 for 6 at stumps against Madhya Pradesh in Gwalior. Baroda, after being put in, lost Kedar Devdhar and Aditya Waghmode inside 16 overs, but Wakaskar and Ambati Rayudu (40) led a recovery with an 84-run partnership for the third wicket. Madhya Pradesh fought back with two quick wickets to reduce Baroda to 136 for 4, but two more big stands swung the advantage Baroda’s way. First, Wakaskar and Hooda added 55 for the fifth wicket, and though Wakaskar eventually fell six runs short of a hundred, Hooda and Pinal Shah kept the score ticking with a sixth-wicket association which yielded 62 runs. Hooda was unbeaten on 82 when the day ended.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh made the most of the 29 overs of play possible on day one in Kanpur, as they compiled 113 for 0 against Jammu & Kashmir. UP’s openers Tanmay Srivastava and Akash Verma both raised fifties, ensuring that the team were in a promising position going into the second day. Srivastava struck 10 fours during his 56 not out, while Verma’s unbeaten 55 featured five fours and two sixes.

Dhammika Prasad has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a fractured hand at training on Saturday, two days prior to Sri Lanka’s first warm-up encounter

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Feb-2015Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a fractured hand at training on Saturday, two days prior to Sri Lanka’s first warm-up encounter. The injury is expected to keep him out of action for four weeks, and the team will name a replacement subject to the approval of the ICC’s event technical committee.”Dhammika Prasad was hit on the outside of the left hand when attempting a return catch while bowling,” an official release said. “The x-ray showed a fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone. The fracture has been realigned and put in a cast. Dhammika will not be available for the upcoming World Cup.”No decision on a replacement has yet been made, as chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya is en route to New Zealand to join the team as the selector-on-tour. The selection panel will then consult with team management and captain Angelo Mathews, before presenting their replacement to the event technical committee.Sri Lanka have fast bowlers Shaminda Eranga and Dushmantha Chameera on standby, but may also name a batsman to take Prasad’s place, as the batting order had been less productive than the selectors had hoped during the seven-match ODI series against New Zealand.Eranga represents the safer option for Sri Lanka. He has only played 17 ODIs, but has been a fixture of the Test side, and recently took three wickets at 27.66 in his two outings against New Zealand. Chameera, 23, is the quicker bowler, but he has only played one ODI.Among the potential pool of batsmen that could be named, are Upul Tharanga, who has been among the runs in Sri Lanka’s ongoing first-class tournament, and Kusal Perera.Prasad was struck in the hand by a ball bludgeoned back at him by Thisara Perera. He played two ODIs against New Zealand, taking two scalps at 45.2.

The Rajasthan High Court has set aside the no-confidence motion against the elected Rajasthan Cricket Association officials headed by Lalit Modi, giving the Amin Pathan group 30 days to propose a fresh motion

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2015The Rajasthan High Court has set aside the no-confidence motion against the elected Rajasthan Cricket Association officials headed by Lalit Modi, giving the Amin Pathan group 30 days to propose a fresh motion. However, despite Wednesday’s order, the RCA continues to remain suspended by the BCCI.An order passed by the court stated that Pathan’s takeover of the RCA last year was illegal since the alleged no-confidence motion had been held without the requisite 21-day notice. The court asked the chairman of the Rajasthan Sports Council, who was given charge of RCA affairs in last October, to pass on the mantle to Modi’s faction on March 13 in case the Pathan group does not propose a no-confidence motion till then.According to Mehmood Abdi, a key Modi aide, even if the no-confidence motion is upheld, the sports council “will have to initiate fresh elections”. This would certainly be a shot in the arm for Modi, the former IPL chairman who has been residing in London for almost five years since his expulsion from the BCCI in April 2010. Pathan remained unavailable for a comment.Even if the members of Modi’s group are reinstated as RCA administrators, the association will continue to be suspended. The BCCI had suspended RCA immediately after Modi was elected the president on May 2014, on the grounds of having allowed a person expelled for life from the BCCI to contest the elections.

Jacob Duffy’s career-best match haul of 9 for 123 laid the foundation of Otago’s four-wicket win against table-toppers Canterbury in Dunedin

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2015Jacob Duffy’s career-best match haul of 9 for 123 laid the foundation of Otago’s four-wicket win against table-toppers Canterbury in Dunedin. Duffy picked up four wickets in the first innings, but it was his five-for in the second that limited Canterbury’s lead to 141. Otago, after a brief stutter, chased down the target in 31.3 overs to register their fourth win.Defending champions Canterbury could garner only three points from the game, but maintained their position at the top of the table with a 10-point lead over second-placed Auckland. With just one round to go, they remained favourites to win the title.Opting to bat, they had a poor start as they lost openers Leo Carter and Ronnie Hira by the sixth over. Peter Fulton and Neil Broom led a brief recovery with a 70-run stand for the third wicket, but a couple of strikes by Roald Badenhorst followed by wickets from Duffy and Neil Wagner meant Canterbury were bowled out for 247. Broom was the top-scorer in the innings with 117, his second consecutive century, but did not receive much support, 25 being the next best contribution.Hamish Rutherford (87) and Derek de Boorder (55) were the major contributors for Otago who declared the innings after taking a three-run lead and Duffy dismissed Hira off the first ball of his spell, with the score still on 0. Canterbury were not given any chance of recovery as the Otago bowers made regular strikes before Duffy cleaned up the tail to dismiss Canterbury for 144.Otago set off on the chase in brisk fashion, with Rutherford and Aaron Redmond adding 49 for the first wicket in 6.5 overs, setting the tone of the chase. Otago lost three wickets in the middle for 12 runs, but reached the target with four wickets to spare.