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Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire’s captain and new player/coach, has been included in the New Year Honours list in recognition of his success with the county in the past five years, in which time they have won six one-day titles.Alleyne, 35, played 10 one-dayers for England between 1999 and 2000. Speaking today, he admitted that both he and his wife, Louise, were astonished and overwhelmed when they heard the news of his MBE. “I was very surprised. I never thought I would be considered for anything like this,” he said. “We were both pretty much in tears when we found out. But it was when my wife started to cry that I realised how important it was.”I have seen her cry only twice before. One was when our first child was born, and the other was when we beat Somerset in the NatWest final in 1999. That meant a lot to Gloucestershire people.”That victory set the wheels rolling for Gloucestershire and their incredible success. Alleyne, along with John Bracewell, the former coach, masterminded Gloucestershire to three Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy victories, the latest against Worcestershire last summer. And that was capped off with promotion to the first divsion of the County Championship.”We had a vision for the club, to be one of the premier teams in England,” Alleyne added. “We do kind of look back at what we have achieved, and it has been outstanding. I am really proud of that – it has been a great moment to be involved with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.”Now we have a chance to build on all that. It is a new challenge altogether, and I want to keep it going. To truly be a top club you need to be in the top bracket in both forms of the game, and I am pleased to have helped Gloucestershire up where they belong.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, expressed his congratulations to Alleyne. “It is a great award. It is not often that a person who has achieved success in the county game has been rewarded with an MBE,” said Graveney. “I am sure he would be the first to say it is an honour for the team. He has played his part in Gloucestershire’s success over the years.”I have known him since he first broke into the Gloucestershire team when I was his first captain. I remember him very vividly. He was a very good cricketer he has played his part.”

New Zealand’s latest Test cap Jacob Oram might have had a dream start to his career, two Test victories, 11 Test wickets at an average of 11.09 and an example of batting under pressure, but he’s not lifting his feet off the ground.He knows that the tailor-made conditions in Wellington and Hamilton for the National Bank Series against India, will be far from those that might be struck in New Zealand’s next Test cricket excursions to Sri Lanka and India next year.But when he went out to bat today, as New Zealand were in danger of letting a winning opportunity slip from their grasp at 105/5 with India at peak confidence, it was another aspect of his cricket that was on display – his batting.Through this first series it has been his bowling that has been most important for New Zealand but after a first Test duck and a three in the first innings in this Test, he was determined to show the Indians he could bat.”I was more nervous than I have ever been. I thought I was nervous before my first Test innings last week and it probably showed in my batting.”But, I tell you, today was the most nervous I’ve ever been, and I honestly mean that.”Just the whole situation with the game in the balance. You can either win, or you can draw the series, and wickets were falling pretty regularly.”I just wanted to hold the ship steady for awhile and have positive intent,” he said.Oram was satisfied to achieve his goal of showing that he could bat under pressure. He acknowledged that the majority of times that he has “performed” in cricket, it has been in favourable conditions. But, in the 50/50 situation this match had become, he had pulled through.”I showed my peers, who I respect the most and whose opinions I hold in high regard, that in pressure situations I can come through,” he said.It was all a little unbelievable as an introduction to Test cricket. Bowling had been a priority for him after his selection, a selection that he thought had come a little early for him. But conditions had suited him well. He had been able to put the ball in the required spot and he’d been backed by some good fielding and had shown the selectors had got it right.Oram didn’t think New Zealand were home in their quest for 160 to win, until they were in single figures left for victory.”We were on 12 to win for a couple of overs and I remember thinking one wicket with three to go and Harbhajan [Singh] turning it, that it could be tricky.”But once there were six or seven to go, I realised we had it and you could tell that once we needed only singles figures, the Indians dropped their heads and it was game over.”I just wanted to be out there when the winning runs were hit,” he said.One shot, a cover driven boundary of Harbhajan had not been executed quite as he would have liked, but he had enough power in the shot to stay out of trouble.He thought to himself: “This is turning out to be a good innings, let’s have a not out and enjoy the moment when you are out here and hit the winnings runs.”It didn’t quite turn out that way as Oram had to concede that right to home town boy Robbie Hart.It is certain, however, that the Indians will go into the one-day series, knowing that Oram is more than just a bowler who has to be watched while Oram is looking to carry on, knowing that tougher times are ahead, and he’s looking forward to the challenge.

Injuries and retirements notwithstanding, South Africa might still be able to field both Allan Donald and Mfuneko Ngam in the same team during the 2001/02 summer.The prospect of the country’s most experienced fast bowler lining up alongside the quickest young gun in the country may seem a little remote just at the moment, but there are more than a few who believe that Donald’s "retirement" from Test cricket may be less permanent than it appeared at first sight.Ngam, meanwhile, is still recovering from a stress fracture of the right thigh and a shoulder operation. The injuries kept him out of South Africa’s Caribbean tour this year, but he has made steady progress towards recovery and was examined by the United Cricket Board’s medical staff this week.Donald became the first South African to take 300 Test wickets last summer, but a variety of injuries restricted his appearances in the series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.A combination of frustration and the desire to play in the 2003 World Cup appear to have persuaded Donald that his future as an international bowler lay in the one-day game.He has, however, agreed to consider playing Test matches if required, and South Africa Graham Ford suspects that the last has not yet been seen of Donald in the Test arena."The door’s still open," said Ford this week. "I think we might still see him bowling in a Test match. He gives us so much, both on and off the field, and with two series against Australia coming up it would be a huge boost for us if he was in the team."At least one senior South African official intends to sit Donald down and talk to him."He’s not a stubborn man," said the official. "He’ll listen to reason."Ngam, meanwhile, broken down with his stress fracture after playing in his first two Test matches last summer. In a type of bulk purchase deal, it was decided to operate on a rotator cuff injury in his right shoulder while his leg was being given time to recover."The way I understand it his leg’s just about fine, but the shoulder’s taking a while to heal fully," said Ford. "I believe he’s been out on the road and I think that he might be able to bowl by September when we go up to Zimbabwe. Throwing’s apparently the problem, but if you remember, he couldn’t thrown properly when he played his Test matches."The medical people are being conservative with him, but you can’t blame them. They want to get him fully fit before throwing him into a Test match, and if they’re going to err, it will be on the side of caution."And yes, it would be great to have them bowling in tandem, but we’ve got a few useful guys around anyway, people like Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini, and that’s not forgetting about Andre Nel and Nantie Hayward. So we’re not that badly off," said Ford.

The kite climbs higher and higher, like a bird in the sky at the Wankhede Stadium. The string is held by couple of Delhi players who are egged on by their team-mates. Some distance to their right, the Uttar Pradesh players are indulging in a bit of fun as well. The relaxed atmosphere belies the fact that come tomorrow, and both these teams will be fighting for the coveted Ranji Trophy.Eleven years have flown by since Delhi last reached, and lost, the final while Uttar Pradesh are back in the summit clash after two years. Both teams are, obviously, desperate to win. Delhi want to forget their recent sordid past, when political machinations and faulty selection processes used to hog the headlines. Surprisingly, cricket has been the sole topic of discussion this season. It’s a refreshing change for some of the senior players, who only a year back were considering switching states to get away from the mess.For the last few seasons, players from Delhi would make it to the national team, but at the domestic stage the team struggled. “Many players went on to play for India but the team was not winning anything,” says Vijay Dahiya, the coach, who played in that 1996-97 final. “That has hurt the players. They want to set that record right. If you talk to anyone this season, you will realise their focus is entirely on doing well for Delhi.”The senior players like Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra concur. It is their first Ranji final and both want to make it memorable. “We want to experience that feeling of winning the Ranji Trophy, that’s the greatest motivation,” says Gambhir, Delhi’s captain. “I was always passionate about playing for Delhi. It has given me the platform to play for India and at one stage you have to give back to your state as well. This is my chance.”Mohammad Kaif, the UP captain, has tasted that winning feeling before and wants more of it. “Winning the title is the key focus and not individual selections for the national side. That will come when we win this. The last time we won, a few players went on to play for the country. But the focus was right – win the title and reap the rewards. Not the other way around.”If Delhi want to leave behind the past, Uttar Pradesh want to create a new future. Their success story has been despite the system. They have bypassed the infrastructural speed-breakers – poor practice facilities, the substandard gyms – to repeat the story of 2005-06. Like that year, they have come from behind to enter the final. They hope a victory here will help in sprucing up the system.One of the biggest challenges for both teams is the wicket that has been laid out by curator Sudhir Naik. The surface has a fair sprinkling of grass and promises to offer bounce and movement. Both teams, while praising the “international quality track” are pretty wary of it. Unless things change dramatically overnight, it’s almost certain that the captain winning the toss will choose to bowl. Naik, relieved of the pressure of producing a lifeless track for the usual hosts Mumbai, has laid out a wicket which should produce a decisive result. “A few players from both teams did come to me, enquiring whether the grass would be removed. I had to disappoint them,” Naik says with a chuckle. “It is definitely going to help the pacers and I won’t be surprised to see a team getting bowled out on the first day.” Dahiya admitted he would bowl first and Kaif hinted at the same.The pitch is hardly a greentop, but considering how domestic batsmen from all teams have repeatedly folded up whenever the wicket was a touch difficult – the semi-finals are the most recent examples – Naik’s assessment could well turn out to be right.

The contest will come down to how the either team’s batsmen measure up against the opposition fast bowlers. Both sides have a decent pace attack led by young promising talent. If it’s Sudeep Tyagi, who has the second-highest tally of the season with 39 wickets at 19.84, leading the attack for UP, then Pradeep Sangwan, with 24 wickets at 21.20 and fresh from a successful tour with the India Under-19 team, will be the spearhead for Delhi.If UP have Praveen Kumar, with 28 wickets at 16.28, to give able support to Tyagi, Delhi have Sumit Narwal and one of either Parvinder Awana or Amit Bhandari – Gambhir’s one selection headache will be which one of the two to select. In addition, both teams have a medium-pacer – the in-form Rajat Bhatia for Delhi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for UP – to do the dirty job of performing as stock bowlers.The spin threat is posed by legspinners for both teams: Piyush Chawla – who was seen practising a lot in the nets, trying to bowl with a more round-arm action to get more fizz on the legbreaks – for UP and Chetanya Nanda for Delhi.The bowling attack balances out but what about the batting? Delhi outscore UP in this department, with three batsmen – Gambhir, Chopra and Mithun Manhas – who have scored almost 600 runs this season. In addition, they have Shikhar Dhawan with 502 runs and Bhatia with 386. UP’s batting has revolved around Kaif, who is in glorious form (670 runs) and Suresh Raina, with 582. However, the batting has dropped a notch after a fiery start. They will be happy to have Tanmay Srivastava returning from the India Under-19 outing in South Africa and will hope that he can give them a good start, something that UP have failed to produce consistently this season. However, Delhi clearly have the edge in batting, especially as their opening batsmen are of proven quality and can be expected to tackle the new-ball threat.What could work to UP’s advantage is the fact that they have played three consecutive pressure-cooker games and are battle-hardened as a result. They faced relegation before the game against Bengal but won by an innings and have rode on the momentum ever since. They swept aside Hyderabad by 132 runs in their last league game before clinching a low-scoring semi-final against Saurashtra.Considering they had taken a similar path in their championship year of 2005-06, UP also have the advantage of having been there and done that as recently as two years ago. Pitted against that bullishness is Delhi’s desperation to end the title drought. The stakes couldn’t be higher and the battle couldn’t be fiercer. It’s game on at the Wankhede Stadium.

Dan Marsh, the Tasmania captain, will be out of action for three weeks after tearing his calf muscle on the weekend. George Bailey will lead Tasmania for their last limited-overs match in 2006-07, against South Australia at Adelaide on Wednesday.Marsh, who hurt his leg taking off for a single during the Tigers’ loss to Victoria on Saturday, is likely to miss at least one of Tasmania’s two remaining Pura Cup matches. However, Tim Coyle, the Tasmania coach, conceded it could be a season-ending injury.”It is a calf injury that we think is three weeks,” Coyle told the . “Three weeks should be a really good turnaround, but they are really big calf muscles, they take a bit of repairing. He is feeling pretty good at the moment. He thought he had done something pretty serious, but it looks OK.”The Tigers have included Chris Duval, the fast bowler and Matthew Wade, the uncapped batsman, in their 13-man squad. Jason Krejza, who transferred from New South Wales mid-season, is also in with a chance of his first game for his new state.South Australia recalled Mark Cleary to replace Shaun Tait, who is in New Zealand with the Australia one-day team. Neither the Redbacks nor the Tigers can make the Ford Ranger Cup final, which will be between Victoria and Queensland on February 25.Tasmania squad Michael Di Venuto, Tim Paine (wk), Michael Dighton, George Bailey (capt), Dane Anderson, Travis Birt, Matthew Wade, Jason Krejza, Xavier Doherty, Luke Butterworth, Brendan Drew, Ben Hilfenhaus, Chris Duval.South Australia squad Matthew Elliott, Daniel Harris, Mark Cosgrove, Callum Ferguson, Darren Lehmann (capt), Nathan Adcock, Simon Roberts, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Ryan Harris, Jason Gillespie, Dan Cullen.

Scorecard

Andrew Hall and Johan Botha shared six wickets between them to help South Africa ease to a 46-run win over Queensland Academy of Sport at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. Earlier Jacques Kallis laid the foundation, top-scoring with 80 off 106 balls helping South Africa along to 7 for 234 in 50 overs.Queensland Academy got off to a bad start losing their first four wickets for 38 runs thanks to Andrew Hall and Shaun Pollock. Chris Simpson,the captain, offered some resistence scoring 55 at more than a run a ball, with three sixes. After his dismissal, Queensland had lost half their side for 97. Derek Tate, who grafted his way to an undefeated 55 off 85 balls, ran out of partners as Johan Botha took three lower-order wickets. Queensland Academy were bowled out for 188 off 43.2 overs after Grant Sullivan was run out.Earlier, after choosing to bat, the South Africans got off to a terrible start, losing Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith with only 59 on the board. Kallis then got together with Ashwell Prince, and the two added 109 for the fourth wicket. Prince made 50 from 72 balls, but both were dismissed in the 39th over. When Mark Boucher fell cheaply, the South Africans had slumped to 6 for 172, but Justin Kemp and Shaun Pollock injected some late momentum. Pollock slammed 27 from 18 balls with one four and two sixes. Chris Simpson, an offspinner, was the most successful bowler for the academy side, taking 3 for 40.

Hopes that the USA would become a major force in world cricket were effectively ended with the announcement by the ICC that Project USA had been scrapped.An ICC statement said that “in light of the inability of the United States of America Cricket Association to address the fundamental governance issues of the game inthe USA, the executive board decided to immediately terminate its initiative to stage international cricket in the USA to generate funds to develop the game in this country.”Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, said that the board was left with littlechoice but to make this decision. “The decision to terminate Project USA is taken with some regret. Cricket is growing in America and Gary Hopkins who was appointed to run this project had done some excellent work in preparing the way for international cricket to be played there,” Mani said. “Nevertheless, the success of this project relies on having an effective governing body for cricket in the United States.”Our experience in dealing with the USACA and the current controversyover the governance of the game in this country has convinced the boardthat it cannot support investing ICC members funds in this project andit has been terminated.”Constant in-fighting within the board and growing animosity between senior officials led to the ICC suspending the project in February. But rather than grab the bull by the horns, the USACA executive did almost nothing except provide further examples of its inability to act decisively.In the same week that the ICC met, the USACA’s president, Gladstone Dainty, embroiled the association in further controversy when he suspended the secretary and attempted to disqualify candidates after the poll had closed.There was also a feeling in some circles that the ICC needed the USA more than USA needed it and that it wouldn’t dare to abandon the project. That was always a risky strategy, and that particular bluff has been well and truly called.

The Pub Charity CCA Club Cricket draw for Saturday is:MEN’S CRICKET1st Grade Men:R4 – 29 Nov & 6 Dec (2-Day Trophy)2nd day of 22nd Grade Men:R4 – 29 Nov & 6 Dec (2-Day Trophy)2nd day of 23rd Grade Gold Men:29 & 6 Dec (2 Day)2nd day of 23rd Grade Red:R5 – 6 & 13 December (2-day Trophy)Christs College v St. Thom St. Thom 1,STAC v TBHS TBHS 1,St. Bedes v SBHS SBHS 1,Burn HS v CBHS Burn HS 1.3rd Grade Black:R5 – 6 & 13 December (2-day Match)CBHS Blue v CBHS Black Straven 1,CBHS Red v St. Bedes St. Bedes 1,SBHS v Burn HS Clare Park 2,Ricc HS v STAC Ricc HS 1,CC Bye.4th Grade Men:Mar v BWU Burn 2,St A B v St A A Hag 4,LPW Yabbage v OC Cavs Elm 3,ES Hooters v Syd Muppets Syd 2.5th Grade Men:BWU Blue v LPW Yaks Ensors 2,BWU Maroon v BWU Gold Ilam 2,OC Tan v Ricc Gold HSC,St A v BWU SNCC HC 3,Ricc Hogs Bye.6th Grade Men:Mar Gold v Parklands Ilam 1,OC Tan v Syd Red Syd 3,LPW v OC SGC Ensors 3,St A v Mar Fozzie B’s HC 7,Syd Blue v BWU Syd 4.President’s Men:Ricc+ v LPW Red Wool 2,Mar v HSOB Gold HC 8,OC v St A Blue Ilam 4,LPW Gladiators v St A Gold HC 9,ES Gold v Syd Burw 3,Hospital v ES Blue Clare 1,BWU v Sum Misfits Burn 3.(+Indicates holder of the G Frampton Challenge Cup)WOMEN’S CRICKET1st Grade Women:R8 – 6 Dec (1-day Cup):ES v St A Burw 2,LPW v OC-Country Gar 2.1st Reserve Grade Women:St A v OC-Country Ilam 6,BWU v ES Burn 4,Syd v Ricc Ilam 5.2nd Grade Women:St A v LPW Wool 1,Syd v Hare Red 2,OC-Country Bye.3rd Grade:Ricc v Horn Polo 3a,LPW v St A Polo 4a,BWU v Syd Polo 2a.4th Grade Primary Girls (Grade redrawn):Senior Trad:St A Gold v LPW HC 3,ES v St A Grammar HC 7,OC-Country v Horn HC 8.Junior Trad:St A v Syd Selwyn House HC 9.Junior Average:St A v LPW HC 4,HSOB v Syd HC 5,Cath G v President’s XI HC 6.

Having outplayed the Kenyans in the longer version of the game – thefour-day unofficial tests, Sri Lanka ‘A’ are gearing up to face Kenya in aseries of three unofficial one-day internationals beginning at theWelagedera Stadium here tomorrow.Sri Lanka ‘A’ coach and manager Roshan Mahanama is keen to strike firstblood and main Sri Lanka’s dominance over the tourists.”The first game of any series is important and we won’t be taking theKenyans lightly,” said Mahanama. “It is important that we continue toperform well as a team.”The overs game is something which the Kenyans are quite familiar with andthey are quite capable of giving Sri Lanka ‘A’ a good run, provided they canovercome the disappointment of their 3-0 whitewash in the ‘Test’ series andtheir batting, their strongest department, clicks.”The one-day version suits the boys more, it is just that they should gettheir disappointment out and start afresh. We have played a lot more one-daycricket and we are going to regroup ourselves, get the disappointment of thestring of defeats and rethink for a start of a new series,” said Kenyan teammanager Harilal Shah.One player whom the Kenyans will miss a lot is Thomas Odoyo who was forcedto return home due to a hamstring injury on his right leg.”We will miss him very much because he is a very powerful hitter of the balland he is a good bowler.quite quick. Odoyo recently went to South Africa forthe triangular between Kenya, India and South Africa and he ranked among thevery higher echelons of cricketers with ICC’s high performance manager BobWoolmer (the former England player and SouthAfrican coach),” said Shah.”We’ll miss Odoyo, but some players will have to play better thanthemselves, to compensate for his loss,” he said.>From the Sri Lanka ‘A’ squad of 14, batsman Anushka Polonowita and fastbowler Kaushalya Weeraratne are unlikely to play leaving the only change inthe side to be decided between left-arm spinners Rangana Herath and SajeewaWeerakoon. Herath with his experience will probably get the nod.Fast bowler Dulip Liyanage and all-rounder Gayan Wijekoon are likely to gettheir first game against the tourists. The rest of the squad figured in therecently concluded ‘Test’ series.Kenya will be hoping their captain Maurice Odumbe will strike form in thisseries. He managed only 72 runs in six innings in the ‘Test’ series gettingout on the last four occasions to his vis-à-vis Upul Chandana.They have a complement of 15 players to select their final 11.The pitch at Welagedera Stadium is generally slow and tends to keep low,which may not be the ideal one for a one-day game.The second game is scheduled for Saturday at De Soysa Stadium, Moratuwa andthe final one on Monday at the NCC grounds.SRI LANKA ‘A’ (from):Upul Chandana (captain), Avishka Gunawardana, Upekha Fernando, TillekeratneDilshan, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara,Rangana Herath, Pulasthi Gunaratne, Dulip Liyanage, Gayan Wijekoon, SajeewaWeerakoon, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Anushka Polonowita.KENYA (from):Maurice Odumbe (captain), Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Steve Tikolo, HiteshModi, Otieno Suji, Collins Obuya, Lamech Onyango, Martin Suji, Brijal Patel,Joseph Angara, Josphat Sorengo, David Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Mohammad Sheikh.UMPIRES: Gamini Silva and Jagath Nandakumara, Match Referee: Ashley deSilva.

Zimbabwe had a lot of hard work to do as they resumed on 31 for threeafter dismissing India for 237. This they did with a lot of credit,thanks mainly to a gutsy innings of 80 not out from Grant Flower, wholifted his team from a shaky 110 for five to a lead of 64 runs at theclose with two wickets still in hand. At stumps on the second day ofthe second Test match at the Harare Sports Club ground on Saturday,Zimbabwe were 301 for eight.In the morning, Dion Ebrahim began with confidence, playing someparticularly impressive drives, although he played and misseddangerously at times. Andy Flower though only occasionally showed hisbest form and was perhaps fortunate to survive an lbw appeal by AjitAgarkar when on 18. Despite that, he passed 1000 runs in Test cricketagainst India alone.The primary aim was clearly to occupy the crease during the firstsession. India stuck to their pace trio for more than 90 minutes, withAgarkar perhaps the best, restraining Flower and enjoying no luck.They kept an attacking field and, with the slow outfield, threes weremore frequent than boundaries.When Harbhajan Singh belatedly came on, Flower immediately came tolife. He reverse-swept him for four, and then swept and glanced afurther ten runs off the next three balls. But his eagerness to seizethe initiative proved his undoing, as off the final ball of the overhe pushed a catch to forward short leg and was dismissed for 45. Itwas another good catch by Shiv Sunder Das. This was only the secondtime India had ever dismissed him for less than 50 in a Test; on theprevious occasion he made 30.Ebrahim sadly fell on 49, trying to hit across a quicker ball fromHarbhajan and being trapped lbw. At lunch Zimbabwe were back introuble at 113 for five, and Harbhajan had the interesting figures of3-1-16-2.Grant Flower and Heath Streak dug in with determination after lunch,but both were free enough to play the odd powerful stroke, and werenot afraid to attack Harbhajan. With India maintaining an attackingfield with four close catchers, it was enthralling cricket.Streak, on 11, became the first Zimbabwean to achieve the Test doubleof 1000 runs and 100 wickets. They batted until half an hour beforetea until Steak (40) suffered an unlucky dismissal similar to that ofSachin Tendulkar the previous day – when Steak was the bowler. Theroles were reversed now, as Streak misread Tendulkar’s googly and paidthe penalty for padding up, the ball ricocheting from his pad on tothe stumps. Zimbabwe were now 175 for six.Grant Flower, hitherto quiescent, now opened up with the aggressiveAndy Blignaut as his partner, and a flurry of runs ensued. Just aftertea, Flower celebrated his 50th Test match with a fifty, the first ofthe innings after three forties. India were frustrated by the umpire’srejection of an appeal for a catch at the wicket against Blignaut offHarbhajan when he was on 29, and television replays seemed to indicatethey were unlucky. Blignaut celebrated with a remarkable six overextra cover, taking Zimbabwe into the lead, but then moved down thepitch to be stumped for 35.Travis Friend, in his maiden Test innings, scored a valuable 15 beforebeing bowled by Ashish Nehra, while Brian Murphy (17 not out) also dugin to give Flower invaluable support. India spared no effort, butfound the Zimbabwean tail much harder to shift with the second newball than the top order had been with the first. They fielded superblyand bowled well, with Javagal Srinath the only bowler who seemed belowform.