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Pakistan 241 (Fawad 64, Anderson 3-26) beat England 218 (Morgan 61, Strauss 57, Wright 48*, Gul 6-42) by 23 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Gul was outstanding as he took six wickets to lead a stunning Pakistan comeback•Getty Images

Umar Gul produced a sensational career-best spell of 6 for 42 in ten full-length and late-swinging overs, as Pakistan’s cricketers overcame their recent troubles to secure an emotionally charged victory under the floodlights at The Oval. In front of a packed house who lived every moment of another tense finale, Gul built on the new-ball efforts of Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq to defend a below-par total of 241, and keep the series alive at 2-1 down with two matches to come at Lord’s and the Rose Bowl later this week.During the mid-innings interval, Pakistan’s total had appeared insubstantial, after a piecemeal performance in which Fawad Alam top-scored with a diligent 64, but no single partnership had been able to take a grip of the contest. England’s response with the bat, however, lacked the authority they had displayed in the first two contests, and with Gul in the sort of form that forged his reputation as a limited-overs master, they failed to close out a contest that, in terms of pure run-rate, had been within their grasp throughout.Three of England’s batsmen made their mark with significant performances – Andrew Strauss continued his fine form with a 54-ball 57, Eoin Morgan showed typical authority in the middle of the innings with 61 from 74, while Luke Wright overcame a massive stroke of good fortune on 26 to finish on 48 not out – but with the exception of the opener Steven Davies, who made 18, no-one else reached double-figures as Pakistan mounted a vigorous defence on a chilly and intense evening’s work. The coup de grace was delivered by Razzaq, who bowled James Anderson for 3 to secure their second victory in consecutive visits to The Oval this summer, following their four-wicket win in the third Test last month.It was a double-dip recession of an innings from England. Though Strauss batted with his now-habitual fluency to push the score along at more than five runs an over, by the time he was bowled off the inside-edge to become the first of Gul’s six victims, the rest of the top-four had already fallen cheaply.Davies was bowled through the gate by Razzaq before Jonathan Trott, needing five runs to pass 1000 in all internationals this summer, was exquisitely yorked by Shoaib for 2, whereupon Ravi Bopara – in another unconvincing foray – snicked a thin edge off Saeed Ajmal to fall for 7 from 15 balls. One over later, and Michael Yardy – whose third-ball reprieve by Kamran Akmal ultimately forced the keeper to leave the field with a broken finger – was trapped lbw by a bamboozling late swinger from Gul, to leave England teetering on 103 for 5.Cue more magnificence from Morgan, as he and Luke Wright reinflated the innings with a run-a-ball partnership of 98 in 17.2 overs. In similar circumstances to those that he had faced against Australia at the Rose Bowl back in June, he picked the gaps with outrageous ambidextrous improvisation that he somehow made to look run-of-the-mill, while Wright – back in the side following an illness to Paul Collingwood – provided sensible support of the more conventional biff-and-block variety. Wright, however, should have fallen on 26, when Umar Akmal, the substitute keeper, whipped off the bails with his back foot clearly in the air. But umpire Doctrove – he of the 2006 Oval controversy – somehow decided that a replay wasn’t necessary.The pivotal moment of the match, however, came in the 39th over, with England seemingly cruising to their series victory on 201 for 5, with 41 still needed from 72 deliveries. So long as Morgan remained, the result was a foregone conclusion, but when Gul strayed onto his pads, he rashly leant into an airy clip over midwicket, and picked out the substitute Wahab Riaz at deep square leg. Three balls later, Tim Bresnan’s off stump was extracted for a duck, and though Stuart Broad was a handy man to have at No. 9, he could do nothing about a raucous delivery that crashed into middle. And when Graeme Swann slapped the last delivery of Gul’s spell to cover, England had shed four wickets for 10 runs in five overs. And from there, there was no recovery.It was the culmination of an impressive recovery from Pakistan, after their own innings had flirted with disaster right at the start of the day. After being asked to bowl first on a bright but chilly day, Anderson was the star of England’s show with an eye-opening display of attacking seam bowling – as opposed to the swing-based method that has earned him his rewards to date this summer. He claimed 3 for 26 in ten exemplary overs, to spearhead a bowling effort that never allowed a free-spirited batting order to flourish.Anderson took little time to prove a menace on a pitch with decent bounce, as he snagged Mohammad Hafeez’s outside edge with the final ball of his opening over, before Bresnan bowled Kamran Akmal for 5, via an unlucky deflection off his thigh pad. At 8 for 2 after 2.4 overs, Pakistan’s performance was heading down the pan, and their situation got worse at 31 for 3 when Anderson nailed Mohammad Yousuf with a nip-backer that replays showed would have trimmed the top of the bails.Fawad and Asad Shafiq did their best to regroup in uncomfortable circumstances, before Shafiq holed out against Swann to leave his team on 95 for 4, and their prospects dipped even further five overs later when Umar Akmal – not a batsman who will ever die wondering – tried to hook Bresnan off his eyebrows as he charged down the wicket, but managed only a top-edge to Swann at fine leg. Afridi showed signs of a return to form before running himself out as he deflected a shy from square leg onto his own stumps for 34, and Razzaq chipped in with a lusty 31 to give the innings some late impetus. But without Gul’s efforts, victory could never have been achieved.

Luke Wright, the Sussex and England allrounder, has signed with Wellington in New Zealand for their domestic Twenty20 tournament which runs throughout December.Wright wasn’t included in either England’s Ashes squad or the performance programme that will run alongside the full tour, but is still expected to be part of the one-day party for the latter part of the Australia tour and the World Cup.He has played 42 one-day internationals and 27 Twenty20s for England since making his debut in 2007 although isn’t a permanent fixture in the 50-over side where he averages 21.42 with the bat and 51.26 with the ball. During the recent one-day series against Pakistan he played two matches, hitting an unbeaten 48 at The Oval and claiming the key wicket of Kamran Akmal at the Rose Bowl. In Twenty20 internationals Wright has a batting strike-rate of 129.13.As with Ravi Bopara, who is joining the Dolphins in South Africa, Wright’s overseas stint means he’ll have plenty of match practice before the Twenty20 and one-day series against Australia in January. “Having played many games against New Zealand and touring with England two years ago, I know first hand the skill and toughness that Kiwis bring to the cricket field,” he said. “I’m keen to test myself alongside and against the best in their domestic competition.”Anthony Stuart, the Wellington coach, added. “I’m thrilled that Wellington has secured a player of Luke Wright’s quality. He is exactly the type of player who will complement the skill set of our players. We were looking for an exciting player who has the ability to win matches with both bat and ball and Luke will perform this role extremely well.”

ScorecardA two-paced hundred from Moeen Ali and a blistering half-century from Gareth Andrew enabled Worcestershire to register their first Clydesdale Bank 40 victory of the season by 178 runs against Glamorgan at New Road. After seven consecutive defeats, Worcestershire finally broke their duck by piling up 296 for 5 and then dismissing the under-strength Welsh team for118.In a remarkable change of tempo, Moeen made 46 in an opening stand of 105 in 22 overs with Vikram Solanki, but then hammered 75 out of 106 in 11.1 overs with Alexei Kervezee. The left-hander’s second 50 came off only 19 balls and there was more stick to come for Glamorgan when Andrew reached an unbeaten 66 from 22 balls. The former Somerset allrounder hit 24 off the final over, including two sixes and two fours, leaving the unfortunate Chris Ashling with figures of none for 80.Worcestershire’s much-improved performance suggested they benefited from a practice session in the middle on Saturday. Although the exercise was curtailed by rain, the top-order batsmen were challenged to replicate different match situations. When it came to the real thing, Moeen seemed to be out of touch, playing and missing regularly before driving his first boundary off the 22nd ball he faced.However, once one shot had gone off the middle of the bat the runs flowed, although it was Solanki who set the quicker pace with five fours and a six in his 51 until he drove Dean Cosker to Tom Maynard at long off. That was the signal for Moeen to crack on with one of the best innings on the ground this season. His hundred arrived from 94 balls and when he hoistedanother catch to Maynard at long on, he had made 121 from 105 deliveries.The wicket went to Nick James, the former Warwickshire spin bowler’s first in the 40-over league this season, and two balls later he had another when Shakib Al Hasan gave the easiest of return chances. Kervezee then went for 37, caught at long on off Cosker, but Andrew waded into the bowling with six fours and five sixes as Worcestershire added 75 off the last five overs.In contrast Glamorgan lost half their side before they had as many runs on the board. Mark Cosgrove was caught at slip in Matt Mason’s eight-over spell of 3 for 38 and acting captain Mark Wallace was top scorer with 29 before falling to Shakib, who picked up 4 for 32.

ScorecardPositive batting from Ben Wright and Tom Maynard put Glamorgan into a useful position going into the final day of their County Championship match against Worcestershire at Colwyn Bay. Wright, 97 not out at the close, and Maynard, who fell two runs short of his maiden Championship century, helped to take Glamorgan to 355 for 6 in their second innings, an overall lead of 374. There were also half centuries for Jim Allenby and Gareth Rees.Glamorgan’s slender first-innings lead of 19 after Worcestershire declared at lunch on 350 for 8, with Daryl Mitchell 165 not out, was given an immediate boost when Rees scored 21 from the opening two overs. However, the home side lost the prolific Mark Cosgrove, who was bowled for a fifth-ball duck via a bottom edge to give Matt Mason his 300th first-class wicket.There was no indication of the fireworks to follow as Maynard moved carefully to nine before opening his shoulders during his two-hour innings of stroke play. Maynard scored a maiden one-day century against Northamptonshire at Colwyn Bay last year and he was close to following suit with a first championship century.He gave notice of his attacking intentions by putting Shakib Al Hasan over long off and midwicket for two consecutive sixes and then planted Richard Jones over point for another maximum on his way to a 51-ball half-century. Rees followed him to 50 from 58 balls. The attacking intent continued as Maynard swept Al Hasan over square leg, and then he followed that up with a well-hit six off Mason into the pavilion at midwicket to move from 92 to 98.But any hopes he had of reaching three figures were dashed when he edged Mason’s next ball to Daryl Mitchell at slip ending a second-wicket partnership of 150 in 30 overs. After a blip when Glamorgan lost three wickets in seven overs Wright and Allenby put on 135 in 28 overs for the fifth wicket.At the start of the day play was held up for 55 minutes because of rain before Worcestershire resumed their first innings on 281 for 6, still 88 runs adrift of Glamorgan. Helped by the second new ball Huw Waters broke through in the second over of the day to bowl Ben Cox for two. He was followed back to the pavilion by Richard Jones who edged Mark Cosgrove to third slip.Mitchell, who was on 136 overnight, went to 150 while Mason scored six fours in his 25. The ninth wicket pair put on 48 before Worcestershire declared just before lunch straight after they registered a fourth batting point.Mitchell finished unbeaten with his third successive championship century giving him a remarkable average of 403 in his last three knocks. Without being dismissed he has scored 299 runs facing 514 balls and batted for just over 13 hours.

England’s coach, Andy Flower, has challenged Craig Kieswetter to raise his game after a disappointing run of scores during the recent one-day campaign against Australia and Bangladesh, or face the prospect of being dropped for the five ODIs against Pakistan in September that take place after the Test series.Back in February, the South Africa-born Kieswetter was a controversial inclusion in England’s one-day plans, as he was drafted into the squad for the tour of Bangladesh, only days after completing his residency qualification, on the strength of a matchwinning half-century for the England Lions in a warm-up match in Abu Dhabi.He justified that leap of faith by scoring a maiden ODI hundred in his third match, against Bangladesh in Chittagong, and then went on to play a pivotal role in England’s triumphant World Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean, scoring brisk runs at the top of the order in partnership with Michael Lumb, and sealing the title with a Man-of-the-Match-winning 63 from 49 balls in the final against Australia.Since then, however, his returns have dropped off. Aside from a quickfire 69 against Scotland, he managed 121 runs at 15.12 in eight ODIs against Australia and Bangladesh, and at a tepid strike-rate of 77.07. His highest score in that period was the 38 from 44 balls he scored in the first ODI against the Aussies at the Rose Bowl, while a susceptibility to the moving ball was underlined at Edgbaston on Monday, when he was bowled by Mashrafe Mortaza for a duck, the fourth time his stumps had been rattled in that period.”Craig has had an interesting time of it recently,” said Flower. “He’s gone from scoring a hundred in his third ODI, to getting the Man of the Match award in the Twenty20 World Cup final, and being a World Cup winner, when a lot of English players haven’t [achieved that]. So he’s up there doing that and achieving that, and then he’s had a bit of a hard one-day series. But international cricket can do that to you. It can teach you some lessons and perhaps expose a few doubts.”Given that he is still only 22, Kieswetter’s talent and promise for the future is undisputed, but with a World Cup fast approaching in February next year, Flower is aware of a certain urgency to settle England’s gameplan if they are to emerge as genuine contenders for the title. First and foremost, the onus is on Kieswetter to decide how he wants to craft his innings, and with a two-month hiatus before the one-day squad reassembles in September, Flower has told him that the hard work starts now.”I think in the long run for Craig it might be a very healthy thing to have happened, in that by the time he plays for England again, he’ll need to have made his package stronger,” Flower said. “There are a number of things he can learn from the last nine one-day internationals, and it is his job and responsibility to go away, work hard with Somerset and come back a stronger package.”He’s got to work it out for himself, obviously with some help on the way,” Flower added. “He’s got a good coach at Somerset in Andy Hurry, and some good people to work with like [Marcus] Trescothick, and it’s the same in our set-up, where Graham Gooch has been working with him recently. All those guys might help, but it’s up to Craig to find his method.”His method was pretty uncomplicated at first. Kieswetter was chosen as England’s one-day wicketkeeper ahead of the previous incumbent, Matt Prior, because of his proven ability to pierce the field in the Powerplay overs, particularly with his booming drives up and over the covers. But he’s had less opportunity to display that trait in recent matches, during which time his opening partner Andrew Strauss has shown him that crease occupation is the best means of racking up a score in English conditions.”I don’t really use the word pinch-hitter myself, but he’s an aggressive opening batsman for us, pretty much in the mould of Jayasuriya or Gilchrist,” said Flower. “He’s got the capacity to play that type of game, there’s no doubt about that, because he’s very, very talented, and hits the ball beautifully, as well as I’ve ever seen anyone hit the ball. But he’s got to work out how to score runs. Jayasuriya did it, as an attacking opening bat [and so must he].”Since being dropped from the one-day side, Prior has been scoring runs for fun in county cricket for Sussex, and Flower hinted that a recall to the limited-overs squad would not be out of the question. “There is a difference in English conditions,” he said. “You learn and adjust to the different conditions, that’s one option. The other is that we change our tactics in England, and we’ll make those decisions closer to the Pakistan series.”

Peter Siddle’s recovery from a stress fracture of the back is progressing, with the fast bowler returning to bowling in the nets and targeting an international return before the Ashes in Australia at the end of the year.Siddle, who had stress fractures early in his career and has also been troubled by his shoulder, has spent much of the time since his latest injury in February working on his fitness, training with Justin Cordy, the fitness specialist at AFL club Carlton who has also worked with the Australian national cricket side.”Probably the body over the last few years wasn’t in the shape that I would have liked and which probably is required to play Test cricket,” said Siddle. “If you look at Mitchell Johnson and the shape he is in, he has performed well for three years straight. He has been the only one up until now injury free.”Credit to him and the way he got his body ready. That’s something that I have worked hard on over the last few months. Hopefully I have done enough right.”While focussing on his fitness, Siddle has also made some minor adjustments to his bowling action and plans to work on adding a few new deliveries to his repertoire, specifically for use in the shorter formats of the game, as he sweats his way back to bowling fitness.”There has been a little bit that I have had to change but the biggest thing was when I got tired bowling those 20 to 25 overs in a day, the action changed slightly,” he said. “It’s just a matter of maintaining the strength and condition more than anything in those latter periods of the day.”As a fast bowler, you are always trying to work on some new trick, or something that you can add to your game. For me, it’s a little bit of swing and a few different things for Twenty20 cricket. It will be something that I will work on once I get back into the bowling phase of things and start getting back out into the nets again and try and progress into something new so when I come back I have that added extra.”

A New South Wales slow-bowling allrounder had a match-winning impact for an Australian side over the past week. But he wasn’t Steven Smith and the star knows he was fortunate to be playing. If Jon Holland and Jason Krejza had avoided off-season surgery and Smith hadn’t been with the limited-overs squad in England, Steve O’Keefe would have been on holiday.Instead O’Keefe, a left-arm spinner, was at Allan Border Field tormenting Sri Lanka A by following his 61 on a tacky pitch with 7 for 35 and another 47. It was the sort of comprehensive contribution allrounders dream of and his came for Australia A in only his seventh first-class game.O’Keefe, 25, played down his achievements, being satisfied to succeed in both disciplines at a more senior level, and is aiming to chip in again in the second four-day match of the series in Townsville from Friday. “With everyone fit, I probably wasn’t going to be the next spinner in this, but given the opportunity I’m stoked and hope to keep contributing,” he told Cricinfo.Despite his destructive performance with the ball, O’Keefe was slightly more satisfied with his vital half-century in the opening innings. A No. 8 with aspirations of shifting up the order, he put on 105 with Ben Hilfenhaus to lift the hosts to what turned into an impressive total of 208.”It’s always good to get five-for, but I did enjoy the 60,” he said. “The partnership with Ben was pretty important, we were 7 for 100 and could have easily folded, but we fought and dug in. I was probably more happy with the 60 that got the team into a reasonable position and gave us something to bowl at.”Australia, who won the opening game by 107 runs, remain cautious of Sri Lanka and will be particularly careful with the offspinner Sachithra Senanayake, who took 11 wickets in game one, and the fast bowler Dammika Prasad. “They are a very talented group,” O’Keefe said. “There’s enough there for us to watch out and be wary of.”A Twenty20 and three one-day games follow the final first-class fixture of the series and the inclusion of Josh Hazlewood and Usman Khawaja in Australia’s squads in England has forced some changes. Luke Feldman, the Queensland fast bowler, and Michael Klinger, the new South Australia captain, have been added to the limited-overs outfit.O’Keefe will not be part of those games – Xavier Doherty has been named as the specialist spinner – and life back in New South Wales will contain more jostling for selection. He played five Sheffield Shield games last season, taking 15 wickets at 30.93, but there are seven spinners in the Blues squad, ranging from Nathan Hauritz and Smith to the rookies Luke Doran and Adam Zampa.”From my point of view I can’t really rest, knowing those guys are around,” he said. “A couple have played Test cricket, one will, there are some young guys, who knows how good they could be?”With so much fresh talent in the New South Wales squad, 25 is the new 35. “I’m one of the older ones now, it’s a bit bizarre,” he said. “I’ve gone from feeling pretty young in the squad to one of the older ones. So I don’t take an opportunity for granted, I realise I have to make every post a winner.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Cameron White slammed five sixes, including two in consecutive balls from Chanaka Welegedara, to power Australia’s fightback•Getty Images

Australia stormed to a resounding 81-run win that all but assured their semi-finals spot as Sri Lanka were steamrolled by extreme pace and sustained pressure, folding for 87. Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson were the main destroyers of the Sri Lankan batting line-up, but the win was made possible by Cameron White’s unstoppable 85 from 49 balls, which rescued his side from a perilous 67 for 5.White was ably aided by Michael Hussey in an unbroken stand of 101 in less than ten overs, and when the Sri Lankan top order was bullied out by a formidable Australian pace attack in quick succession, the rest of the batsmen collapsed in a heap.Australia had been in a similar situation against Bangladesh in the group stage, sinking to 65 for 6 before they were saved by a 74-run partnership between Hussey and Steven Smith. Today, they had White to thank, as he saw off the threatening Suraj Randiv, making the most of a missed chance on 23 to establish his dominance over the rest of the attack, as he passed 50 from 32 balls.Shane Watson and David Warner have given Australia solid starts more often than not in this tournament, but today they were parted with the fifth ball of the innings, as Angelo Mathews snaked one in to rattle Watson’s stumps via an inside edge. In an impressively-controlled opening spell, Mathews then deceived Brad Haddin, sent in ahead of Clarke with Australia one down, with a slower one that took the leading edge and looped up to give Sanath Jayasuriya an easy catch.Australia were then under real pressure when Mahela Jayawardene held a blistering reflex take at slip when Warner nicked a flashing drive to Randiv’s third ball of the match. In a dramatic over, Randiv then set Sri Lankan hearts racing when he beat David Hussey first ball with a flighted delivery that went the other way as the batsman drove on the walk, and Kumar Sangakkara whipped the bails off milliseconds later – not that it mattered, as the ball had also brushed the edge on its way through.The hat-trick evaded him, but he topped off an outstanding spell when Clarke backed away to cut a turning ball and lost his off bail. Australia were 67 for 5 after 11 overs at that stage, and were in real danger of crumbling for an insubstantial total.But Sri Lanka could not carry the intensity from their opening onslaught into the second half of the innings. After racing to his half-century, White led Australia’s charge in the closing overs, lifting Welegedara down the ground with brutal hits from consecutive deliveries to move into the 70s.With that, Hussey, who had nudged his way to 9 from 15 balls, took his cue, walking across his stumps to paddle a knee-high full toss from Lasith Malinga to fine leg. Hussey followed that up with a majestic lofted cover drive, before closing the over with an audacious sweep to a searing yorker. White took Australia past 150 with his fifth and sixth sixes in the penultimate over, and an incredible 91 runs came from the final seven overs.Jayawardene has been Sri Lanka’s linchpin at the top of the order in this tournament, and when he swivelled to pull Nannes handsomely over square leg it appeared that the stage had been set for another excellent knock. But Nannes dug the next one in even shorter, and the ball rose alarmingly to take the splice and balloon up to give Smith an easy catch at long leg.It was pace and aggression that did for Sangakkara, too, as Shaun Tait sent down a brutish bumper that beat the attempted hook for pace, striking the glove on the way through to Haddin. The slide continued as Nannes fired one in at Jayasuriya’s pads in his next over, beating an aimless swish to pin the batsman lbw to reduce Sri Lanka to 26 for 3 in the fifth over.Watson was brought on in the last over of the Powerplay, and his medium-paced seamers proved to be a far more attractive prospect than the 90mph-plus barrage of Nannes and Tait. Dilshan responded with a caressed cover drive and a clean hit high over long on, and Mathews didn’t miss out either, slamming Watson straight back over his head as 15 were taken from the over.But they still had Johnson to contend with from the other end, and he made his intentions clear by banging his first two balls in before rolling his fingers over his third to induce an uppish cut from Dilshan. White at backward point went airborne to pull off a stunning catch inches from the turf, and when Mathews picked out Hussey on the cover boundary four balls later, Sri Lanka’s short-lived counterpunch was nipped in the bud.Sri Lanka were 67 for 5 after 10 overs – almost exactly the position in which Australia had found themselves in the first innings – but their middle order lacks White’s power and Hussey’s class, and from that point on the two sides went in opposite directions, Australia seizing back the game with a supremely confident fightback; Sri Lanka capitulating meekly in the face of sustained pressure. Such was the scale of the win, Australia are now virtually guaranteed a place in the semi-finals.

ScorecardAndrew Strauss fell early as Middlesex struggled in pursuit of 289•PA Photos

Bad light denied Gloucestershire the chance of wrapping up their first win ofthe County Championship campaign over Middlesex at Lord’s where the hostsgo into the final day on 167 for 7.When the sides trooped off under leaden skies at 5.40pm, the hosts were still122 short in their pursuit of an unlikely victory target of 298 andunderstandably it was the buoyant visitors who seemed most perturbed by thedecision of umpires Richard Kettleborough and John Steele to lead the playersoff.Given fair weather on Friday, Gloucestershire will start firm favourites tosecure their 23rd win in St John’s Wood since 1879 and their second insuccessive seasons, should they do so, it will be largely thanks to theperformance of their own ‘East Ender’, Gemaal Hussain.Born barely a dozen miles from the home of cricket at Whipps Cross Hospital,the same maternity unit that helped the likes of David Beckham and Graham Goochinto the world, Hussain was forced to move away from East London to make hismark in cricket, initially for Leeds Bradford University and Nottinghamshirebefore his switch to Gloucestershire last year.A muscular right-arm seamer, the 26-year-old revelled in the overcastconditions at Lord’s to claim 4 for 36 inside 12 overs that thoroughlytested the Middlesex top order.Batting 45 minutes before lunch after Gloucestershire had succumbed for 223 intheir second innings, Middlesex made a bright start when England Test captainAndrew Strauss rocked back to pull a short one from Jonathan Lewis for six intothe Tavern Stand.The Gloucestershire seamer had his revenge in his next over when Strauss (9)again moved back aiming to force off the back foot through the covers only todrag the ball onto his leg stump off a thick inside edge to make it 37 for 1at lunch.Alex Gidman accounted for Owais Shah (16) four overs after lunch, caughtthroat high at first slip after a leaden-footed lunge away from his body andthen Hussain came into his own to have left-hander Scott Newman (42) caught inthe cordon after a similar, airy drive.It took a much better delivery from Gidman, a lifting leg-cutter, to prize outSam Robson (4) to a sharp low catch at second slip and, three overs later, JohnSimpson had his middle stump plucked out by Steve Kirby after he too playedon.In amongst the Middlesex batting debacle, the elegant left-hander Dawid Malancontinued to go for his strokes and deservedly reached a 79-ball half-centurywith eight fours as he and Gareth Berg added 39 for the sixth wicket eitherside of tea.Berg (24) nicked a leg-glance to keeper keeper Jonathan Batty to give Hussainhis fourth victim of the day two overs after the resumption then, after the first break for poor light, Kirby ended Malan’s 142-minute stay for 60 throughanother catch by Batty.

Gautam Gambhir, the Delhi Daredevils captain, has said he stands by the comments that earned him a reprimand from the IPL following his team’s victory against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.”I’m going to say a few things here that might not make people happy, but I think they need to be said,” Gambhir wrote in his column for . “Just because the people who are reportedly upset with something I’ve said about a cricketing performance are starry doesn’t mean I take it all back. I said what I said and I stand by it.” Gambhir did plead guilty to a “level 1 offence”, though.Gambhir wrote he couldn’t understand what the over-reaction was about. “For instance, people said we [Delhi] gave an ordinary performance against Mumbai and we did. But we didn’t over-react or fuss about what anyone said. We picked ourselves up and raised the bar.”I don’t believe in saying things I don’t mean. If you’re looking for platitudes or banal gestures, I don’t think you’ll get that from me. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, I’m not, but I also can’t be a hypocrite. More pertinently, I can’t be expected to get all worked up about comments made by people who have never picked up a cricket bat in their lives. If I listen to opinions seriously, it is from people who have played the game.”Gambhir had said at the post-match presentation that besides Yusuf Pathan, the rest of the Rajasthan batsmen were “ordinary “. He was later reported by IPL chairman Lalit Modi, but escaped a fine, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 50% of the match fee.